Supreme Conquest
By Danyealle
(MMF/FanFiction/Drama/Angst)
Chapter 16
Though it was past the normal time when Sesshomaru finished it wasn’t that much past the time, something that pleased him. After putting Jaken in charge for the rest of the night, as he usually did, he headed off to his chambers to get some much needed rest. Tomorrow was going to be equally as busy plus he had other things he wanted to attend to as well. To take care of things he needed to be fully rested and recharged.
While doing his slow walking tour of the fortress that he did each night before bed to ensure things were how he wanted them while on the way to his chambers he was determined to hold his father to what they had talked about while they were at the miko’s home. They would be spending the night in his room, not his fathers. Because he had his sire’s old bed, space for the three of them, like it would be for most beds, wasn’t an issue and they could easily and comfortably sleep in it. But he did make a mental note to see about getting a larger one crafted. Yes, what he had was comfortable but a little more room would be better.
By the time he finally arrived at the finally wing he was firm and resolute that they would be in his room and was convinced that he would find the duo already in his sire’s, ready for bed. While he was changing into his sleep attire he heard the miko’s laughter from her room as well as both his father’s and Inuyasha’s voices. From the tone of it, it sounded like they were all in a pleasant mood and doing something or other. Unwilling to be left out of the loop, he quickly finished dressing. After a perfunctory knock on the door, he let himself into the room. He found them seated around the table that was in there, playing a card game of some kind or other.
Seeing his eldest pup, Togaou hailed him in a jovial way then beckoned him over. “Come join us and play a few hands. It’s a great deal of fun.”
Moving over a bit, Kagome patted the place next to her. “Come sit here and I’ll teach you how to play and help you a bit until you get the hang of it.” She offered.
Nodding, he sat down by her and observed quietly while they finished the hand they were playing. Quite frankly, this had not been what he had expected when he came to the family wing but he could work with it. His only complaint, if there was one, was that Inuyasha was there with them. He wanted to use times such as these to grow closer to her and do what he could to gain her trust. But he wasn’t comfortable doing some of it in front of the whelp. It was going to take him some time before he would be able to do such things in front of anyone. His father he could handle, perhaps, but the boy he couldn’t. But he would work around it the best way he could. No, he wouldn’t try anything affectionate but he was going to attempt to show her some special attention until the boy left. Once the whelp was gone, he would push it a bit more.
When that hand had finished, the younger daiyoukai focused more on what was going on. Kagome was going to sit out a hand or two to assist him so he made sure to pay closer attention to her and what she was saying to him. But, quickly, he learned that the game wasn’t complex at all and he had no problem learning how to go about playing. So, rather than spending his time focused on learning the nuances of the game he concentrated more on her and making sure to either talk to her or ask her questions about the game so that he was focused more on her than the game. As a rule, he was a highly competitive being in almost everything he did in his life, so he could easily lose himself in what he was doing in his quest to win. That wasn’t something he wanted to happen this time. As far as he was concerned, the night and time should be all about her and his personal goal so he would be concentrating on that, not winning.
…kst…kst…kst...kst…
About an hour or so after Sesshomaru joined them, Inuyasha was so tired that he was having problems keeping his eyes open. Like what kept happening, he really didn’t want the night to end or to leave so he could get some much needed sleep. But he was fighting to keep his eyes open and he was having serious problems focusing and following the game so it was time for him to call it a night. After saying goodnight to all and getting an affectionate, one-armed hug from his father, he headed off to his room for some much needed sleep.
After Inuyasha left for the night, Sesshomaru heaved a mental sigh of relief then relaxed a bit. With the boy now out of the picture, he could do a bit more to pay attention to her in such a way that would get him a bit closer to what he wanted.
Rather than stay in her room, he wanted to go somewhere more comfortable. “Why don’t we shift the game to my room?” He suggested. “I’m sure that the bed would be far more comfortable than sitting here.”
“Good idea!” Togaou said with a nod. “My backside is starting to go numb from sitting here.” On the heels of that then came the thought that he liked what he was seeing from his pup. It appeared he was putting real effort into the whole thing; a serious step in the right direction.
Assuming that they were going to once more be sleeping in Togaou’s room, this seemed a bit odd to Kagome but not overly so. After all, a bed was a bed. Plus, she hadn’t seen his rooms as of yet so she was curious about it. “Alright, let’s go!” She said with a nod. Then she gathered up the cards, stood and stretched.
Standing, Sesshomaru walked over to the door and opened it then gestured everyone to head in.
Following Togaou, Kagome looked around the room, impressed. Not only was it much bigger than either hers or Togaou’s but it was immaculately decorated in dark colors that seemed to suit Sesshomaru’s personality. But the bed impressed her the most. First thing that struck her about it was that it was huge. It seemed to be bigger than the average king-sized bed in her time. It also seemed, from the look of it, to have one of those ultra-thick mattresses that were soft and comfortable, her favorite kind.
Quickly, the three of them shed their robes and slippers then piled onto the bed to resume the game. Once the miko settled herself in, Sesshomaru made sure he was the one that was closest to her as well as near enough to her that he could easily touch her if he so wished. Now was the time to get to work for him.
Once the game resumed, the ‘table talk’ turned to things of a more personal bent than it had been when Inuyasha had been there. Sesshomaru also felt a bit more comfortable and relaxed so he was more part of the conversation than he had been before. In fact, he was the one who led most of it, drawing Kagome into talks about things that centered around her, mostly about her likes and dislikes about various things. His hope was to try to gain a bit of information he could use later on.
Quickly, Togaou caught on to what his pup was doing and approved. Though he interjected in the conversation here and there, so it didn’t look odd to her, but for the most part, he stayed out of it so his boy could continue what he was doing.
Though she didn’t mind the conversation and was comfortable with it as well as the direction it took, she thought the whole thing was a bit odd. Since the whole thing started, he really hadn’t spoken all that much directly to her. Yes, he had participated in conversations but this was really the first time he had seriously engaged her in any kind of conversation. But she didn’t mind it and went with the flow. She also noticed that the thread of disdain that was there most time when he spoke to almost everyone wasn’t present at all. Most certainly that was something she liked. Though it was something that was present for almost all, she had found it to be a tad irritating even if she wasn’t being spoken to.
About an hour later, the trio decided to call it a night. Kagome was exhausted. Both Sesshomaru and Togaou had many things they wanted to accomplish the following day so they needed their rest as well. So, once they all attended to their nightly before bed rituals, they once more piled into bed.
Unlike times before, Sesshomaru immediately slid close to her and slipped an arm around her before his father could.
That action gave Togaou a good internal chuckle. But, since she normally slept on her stomach, it wasn’t a big deal. So he slid over next to her and put a hand on her back above where his pup’s was. “I definitely like this better than the sleeping arrangements at your house Kagome,” he commented as he arranged himself.
“Indeed,” Sesshomaru agreed. “I take it the odds of your mother getting a bed that would comfortably accommodate the three of us isn’t good?”
“The odds of that are slim to none,” she giggled, looking at him. “Nor would I be foolish enough to ask her for something like that.”
“Nor would I after what I saw of her,” the older daiyoukai said with a smirk. “Who knows what she would do to me. Nor would I like to find out.”
…kst…kst…kst…kst…
Even though Inuyasha was so tired, at about midnight he woke up and couldn’t fall back to sleep. When it became apparent that the zzz’s weren’t going to come any time soon, he crawled out of bed with a resigned sigh then went to sit on the balcony to get some fresh air.
Relaxing in a chair, eh propped his bare feet up on the railing and stared off over the darkened lands. It was quiet this time of night, just the normal night noises and an occasional sound from one of the guards interrupted the silence. As he stared out over the lands, the thought hit him that really for the first time since he was a child he had a home and was there. That, to him, was startling. But on the heels of it also came the realization that he once more had a family. Sure, all along there had been Sesshomaru but he ready didn’t count because of the animosity that bordered on hatred between the two. But now he had his father and the old man really treated him like a son and seemed to care about him. Really, he was the only one that had done that since his mother. Sure, there was Kikyo then Kagome but they were different and cared about him in a different way.
On one hand, he did like that and enjoyed it but on the other hand, he was leery of it. He had been kicked around enough in his life to learn to be leery of people professing to care about him. Sure, he knew his father wanted nothing from him and wasn’t doing what he was to satisfy some kind of agenda but he was still cautious, he couldn’t help it. He had been that way with Kagome as well at first. So it was just going to take time is all.
How his life had changed in the short time period since he had been freed from the tree! First, he had met Kagome then his father had come back. No longer was he alone in the world and there were beings that actually cared for and about him. As strange as it sounded, he wasn’t really sure how to handle and deal with it. He had been used to things being a certain way for so long that he had no way of really dealing with the changes and the way things were now.
Though his father dominated his thoughts and the changes his life had gone through, Kagome kept floating to the surface as well. No, he didn’t find it all that odd. After all, she was such a big part of his life now and, in many ways, was family as well. Hell, from the sound of things she would be family in the future as well so it was only natural that she would be grouped into things.
First thing that came to mind with her was that the more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. She was like a mix of a best friend and little sister to him. The way he saw it, she was a lot of fun to have around and kept his head on straight since she wasn’t at all afraid to give him a piece of her mind or let him know if he did something she didn’t like. Despite what he might spout when she did that, he liked it. It helped to keep him on the straight and narrow plus stay focused. The way he saw it, when she did that it helped him become a better being. Though she could drive him absolutely bat shit at times, he liked it anyway.
The next place his mind shifted to was the situation she found herself in. Really, he felt a bit guilty about the whole thing. No, he wasn’t responsible and had no part in the whole thing but he had promised both her and her mom that he would protect her and keep her out of trouble. The way he saw it, this fell into that realm. No, he doubted that he could have done anything to put a stop to it but he still felt as though it was a failing on his part. But there wasn’t anything he could do to change what had happened now. However, he could be more rabid on the subject of protecting her. And that he planned to do. He fully intended to be a better protector for her than either his father or his asshole half-brother ever could be.
When those two names flitted across his mind, he gave a deep sigh. The topic of what they had planned for her left him with serious mixed feelings. On one hand, he really felt sorry for her. Knowing her the way he did, he was certain she was so confused that she didn’t know what was up. As he knew from talks with her about what her life in her time was like, nothing prepared her for anything like this. He was sure that she was going to have a real rough time in the future because of this mess. It was his plan to be there for her and give her all the support she needed. He was going to make sure she knew that she could use his shoulder to cry on or lean on when she needed it. After all, she was there for him when he needed it, so he could do the same for her. Plus, she was now going to be in his life for a long time so their relationship needed to be solid. It was his plan to ensure that was the case.
Next, his mind skipped to his father. No, he didn’t know the old man all that well. Most of what he did know about him came from other people but they all seemed to agree about many things. Yes, his father had been in the past a force to be reckoned with and feared when it came to ruling the western lands but all seemed to agree that he adored women and they never had any thing to fear from him. In fact, from what he had heard, he adored women of all races. But he also heard that he was used to getting what he wanted with little to no resistance. That was self proving when it came to what was happening with Kagome. It appeared, to him anyway, that the old man had decided Kagome was going to be his and Sesshomaru’s and that was that. Nothing or no one was going to stand in his way from getting it. Being honest with himself, he would admit that he was more than a little bit angry with him over the whole thing. Kagome didn’t deserve to be put in this position. She had at least agreed to give them a chance so he wouldn’t say anything. However, that didn’t mean he liked the whole thing. He had decided he would hold his tongue, this time anyway. If it kept up and happened again, he wasn’t sure that next time something similar happened, he would be able to do that. If his father didn’t like that, well, that was too bad. At this point, he had known Kagome longer and better so he was going to do his damndest to look out for what was best for her. To hell with what his father thought about it. He would just have to deal with it was all.
Next, his mind switched to the topic of Sesshomaru. On that subject, he was less happy. OK, he would admit that on the topic of his older half-brother he would concede that he was biased and really didn’t like the fucker. Their history had been less than stellar and anything having to do with him would be clouded by that. However, the facts were that Sesshomaru wasn’t what anyone would term a nice being. Most everyone, because of what he was like, from what he had always heard feared him. Personally, he knew from past experience how cruel he was. Not to mention the fact that he was cold and aloof to everyone’s suffering. Then there was the fact that he was absolutely ruthless about everything. He didn’t care who he had to gut or step on to get what he wanted and gain power. Then there was his quest for ‘supreme conquest.’ Hell, his goal had been to defeat his father in battle to go a long ways to obtaining that. Now that was cold! This was not a being he would wish on anyone for a mate. But, here he was, planning to become Kagome’s. No, that was not something that he liked, not at all.
Shifting around in his chair, he gave a soft growl as he thought about his dear, older brother. As he well knew, when it came to the Kagome issue, there was going to be problems between her and Sesshomaru. No way was he going to let him treat her in any way that was disrespectful and say nothing about it. Then, as would be expected from the two of them, the fight would be on. Yes, it would start out as verbal but it would end up physical as it always did. It didn’t matter how bad of a beating he would take, he wasn’t going to allow Sesshomaru to treat her the way he did everyone else. Over his dead body that would happen! But there was a problem with that as well; he couldn’t be with them all the time. Like now. They were alone in their rooms for the night. It wasn’t possible for him to be in there with her. Sure, he was certain his father wouldn’t allow any of that crap to happen. But there would be times that the asshole would be alone with her. Then who knew what would happen? Plus, really, if they were alone there wouldn’t be anything he could do to stop it.
Once more, his thoughts focused back onto Kagome. He was certain that she might be able to handle dealing with his father, as she had already said, but was going to have a real problem with Sesshomaru. Not only did Sesshomaru scare her, that much was obvious from the way she acted around him, but also knowing her the way he did there was no way that she was going to put up with Sesshomaru’s attitude for long. When she had enough of it she was going to go off on him then there would be a fight. Once that mouth of hers was unleashed, his brother wasn’t going to take it for long until he would do something about it. Then the fight would be on. Yes, he knew she would and could stand up for herself but he knew she was no match in any way to the daiyoukai. Honestly, he really wasn’t sure what Sesshomaru would do in a case like that. Yes, as a rule, the daiyoukai was a violent being but he wasn’t sure if that would extend to women. Inuyasha did think that Sesshomaru might have too much self control for that. But he was sure that wouldn’t extend to that razor sharp tongue of western daiyoukai. As he well knew from incidents in his own life, words could hurt and do more damage than any physical blow. No way did he want Kagome to suffer through that if he could at all help it. But, so far, he hadn’t seen any of that from him. He was going to have to keep an eye on things though. Things were still new so he doubted anything would happen for a while. With that, he made a mental note to snag the miko and talk to her about his brother. Really, they had not talked about him at all, let alone him having told her what he knew about him. Since she had agreed to allow him to court her, he felt that it was prudent that she know what he did about Sesshomaru. Forewarned was forearmed after all. If she knew, then she could be on her toes and keep her guard up when she was alone with him. As he well knew, she was the kind of person that was apt to trust easily. If he acted like his dad wanted him to, then she was likely to lower her guard and not pay attention to some things. With Sesshomaru that was a spectacularly bad idea. Yes, he would keep a close eye on the fucker but she needed to stay on her toes as well.
From his perspective, he was certain that there was no way that she would ever consent to being his mate. But, during the year that he was courting her, he was going to have to stay on his toes and keep his eyes peeled. After all, she had done a lot for him. The least he could do was to make sure he kept his promise to protect her.
Rubbing his eyes with his palms, he sighed again. Once more he felt that absolute weariness that he felt earlier came crashing fully down on him. He wasn’t used to thinking this much or deeply and it made him tired to do it. Usually, he went on gut instinct and let that guide him rather than going about it this way. Yawning hugely, he decided that he was going to try to go back to sleep. Maybe now he would be able to rest since he had thought out some of the things that had been weighing on his mind.
Standing up, he stretched then once more headed back to his bed to get some much needed rest.
|
|